I was kindly sent a copy of The Lazy Student's Revision Guide by David Chapman to have a read over and check out the useful tips for exam revision. I myself am a lazy student, so I can definitely relate!

Whilst some people have already celebrated the end of exams and deadlines and booked their summer holidays, others are still shut away in the library working hard or hardly working. So, I thought for those that do still have exams, I'd give you guys an overview of David's handy tips and let you know what's so great about this revision guide! 

'I've written a book to teach you how to do it the lazy way'

In my opinion, the laziest way to revise is simply to drink plenty of coffee, stay up late and do it a few days before your exam, ensuring that you don't spend months working on it and have plenty of time to chill out. But that's not the way to lazily revise and still achieve excellent grades. We all know that the harder you work for something the better you'll do, so how can you go about revising the lazy way? I wouldn't personally say there is a lazy way, and this guide sure has everything planned out, but if you are a lazy student, I'd say this'll help you out. 

The first thing David points out is the very fact that most of us aren't even taught how to revise. It's funny that we spend all these years working up to exams but we're never really taught how to repeat and process the information. So, as David says 'This book has been designed to take you through the revision process quickly and easily'. From his experience as a teacher educating 14-19 year olds he found that many of his students simply wanted 'someone to show them how to prepare for all their different exams at the same time'. That's where this revision guide comes in. 

David doesn't just cover the best techniques to successfully revise, but he also gives you tips on how to alter little things in your lifestyle to help you become more focused. One of the tips that you'll see many students raise an eyebrow at is to avoid energy drinks and coffee. He makes a good point about how 'highly caffeinated beverages' cause your body to need even more water than just the 6-8 glasses recommended daily. This can lead to 'dehydration and the 10% drop in brain function that comes with it'. David explains that, as many of you have experienced, it'll affect your sleep and cause crashes in your energy levels, which isn't ideal with exams around the corner. Instead, try to get as much sleep as you can and don't leave everything until last minute!

We all know how much time and dedication revision takes, and no one wants to end up like Will:

David also provides advice on eating and sleeping habits, the best times of day to revise, planning, timetabling and working with partners or in groups. Whilst it sounds like a lot of information, the guide is a short 82 pages, and I'm sure the last thing you want to do after so much revision is read more, you'd be wrong not to. It's a very handy guide that'll help you get organised. You don't have to consider this book as any extra reading, honestly it's very simple! It's just about helping you find the right way to revise!

Overall, the guide is a really useful and informative way to help guide you through your revision. Whilst many people are really stuck into revision at this point, if you're finding that your current techniques are becoming a little repetitive and unsuccessful, give The Lazy Student's Revision Guide a go and see if it can help push you up those extra few marks!

*I was sent a copy of The Lazy Student's Revision Guide in return for this review 

MissIsGoode

My exams may be all finished, and I know that those at Keele are almost all done too, but there's plenty of students, both at university and college, that are still slaving over textbooks and computers, getting little sleep and consuming too much caffeine. We feel tired, we feel drained, we yawn and grab another coffee, but do we ever give a second thought to the strain being put on our eyes during this stressful time? If you haven't thought about your eyes, at least Optical Express have! Here's some of their brilliant tips to help you out during your exam and deadline time, to ensure you avoid doing temporary or permanent damage to your poor eyes!

Intensive revision may help boost grades but if it causes eye strain, students are at risk of failing not just their exams but also their future health and wellbeing - now, at this moment exams seem more important than your future health and wellbeing right? But seriously, buying lenses and glasses when you've caused the damage yourself isn't that pleasing on the pocket!

Eye strain can cause a range of symptoms including raging headaches, dry eyes and blurred vision. In some cases, eye strain could also cause permanent damage to eyesight.

Here, Mesha Tanna, Senior Optometrist at Optical Express, has kindly revealed her six top tips for protecting eyes in the build-up to exams.

“It may sound obvious but it’s best to sit at a proper desk so that you are not crouched,” advises Mesha.” Your screen should be a little below eye level and at least half a metre away. It is also important to have suitable lighting to reduce glare.”

“Students who focus intensely on screens and text books for a significant period of time are at risk of pseudomyopia – a temporary form of short-sightedness which causes blurry distance vision and can last for several days,” says Mesha. To prevent the condition, caused by spasm of the ciliary muscle in the eye, Mesha recommends the 20-20-20 rule; looking away every 20 minutes at something at least 20ft away for at 20 seconds.

“Exposure to the blue light emitted by computer screens and other digital devices including smartphones and tablets can damage the retinal cells and is linked to a greater risk of macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness,” says Mesha. She recommends regular breaks and trying specialist glasses, such as Neva Max Blue UV, stocked by Optical Express, that filter the harmful component in blue light. Mesha also warns that viewing digital devices before bedtime can upset your sleeping pattern and take you longer to fall asleep as the melatonin hormone, which prompts tiredness, is reduced.

Mesha says: “People blink less frequently when using computers so stick a Post-it to your screen to remind yourself if need be. If your eyes feel dry and gritty lubricating eye drops can provide relief and if you’re working from home consider using a humidifier to add moisture to the air. If you naturally suffer from dry eyes, it is worth consulting an optician as an underlying condition may be to blame.”

“Long-sighted people may be able to see adequately close up if the strength of the prescription is low and not require prescribed glasses but they may require a small prescription to undertake close work for long periods,” says Mesha. “Contact lens wearers should also bear in mind that some lenses have a time limit to the number of hours they can work.  If you plan to study into the evening and there is a chance you could become too tired and forgetful to remove your lenses, consider switching to contact lenses with increased oxygen permeability for the duration of the exam season.”

“If you experience headaches, discomfort or are in any way worried about your eyesight consult an optician,” Mesha advises. “It is recommended that most people have an eye test every two years but recent research suggests that about 40% of young people are not going for regular eye tests.”*

It may not be your may concern right now, but if you're experiencing any of symptoms that have been mentioned, don't ignore them! This isn't my usual post, but I'm trying to look out for my fellow students and experience horrible eye strain over the weeks I was writing essays, so I would have appreciated these tips, and also not stood on my glasses in second year and been to tight to repair them! 

Three years really isn't a long time. When you get your university acceptance through, most people can't imagine how they could make it through three years of independent living, student life, deadlines and dissertations. But here the class of 2012-15 are, finishing up our degrees. Not everyone's quite finished yet, but I am. And so many people who finished before me said a single word to describe their feeling after handing their final essays in: deflated. At the time I thought how? It's done, it's over. It's been crazy, it's been happy, it's been sad and a real experience. How could you possibly feel deflated? But deflation is all I feel right now too. 

I now don't know where I stand. My degree classification is entirely out of my hands, I don't have a job lined up for the future, I'm not 100% sure on where I'm actually spending my summer, I'm not entirely sure what possessions I'm sending to Nottingham (the place I'll be moving to when I'm all finished up in Keele) and what to send back to Cornwall, where my home and family are. 

It's not the party poppers, pitchers and cheers all round I expected. I don't know how I feel, other than deflated, if I'm honest. I'm proud I've come this far, though I think I'd feel marginally more excited about life from here on out if I had a job waiting in the wings like many people I know do. But when you're choosing to make the jump from Cornwall to Nottingham, it's a little hard to immediately want to work. Do we graduates deserve a break after three years of stress, weight gain and drinking our sorrows away? (I kid we're usually all very cheery when we drink, truthfully though many of us do use a night out to avoid responsibility).

Since I moved to Cornwall in 2001, I've not spent my summer out of it. Going into my second year of university I cut my summer short and moved back to Keele early, but now cutting it out seems unthinkable. I'm ready to move out of Cornwall, because of my relationship, because of my desire to find job security, and for my own personal sanity due to how 'out of the way' everything is where I live. But it does seem like it's all come so suddenly, with the final exchange of paper and submission receipt, my degree was finished. 

Now, it's time to reinflate myself, get on the job hunt - but relax at the same time too - and wait for all my chums to finish so the party poppers, pitchers and cheers all round can finally happen! 

What does this mean for Life and Times of a Student I hear you ask? Well I may not have secure plans for myself and my future, but my little blog does have plans and by no means will Life and Times of a Student be left behind, even with my student days behind me. 

MissIsGoode

If I've learnt anything during university it's that people - as expected - don't f*ck around when it comes to food. I've been on both sides of food thievery and I will hold my hands up to my crime and trust me, it felt like I did the time...so here - and don't judge me now (okay judge me) - is the story of the stolen pizza.

source

One cold and lonely night of essay writing back in first year I took a trip to our shared kitchen in halls. Our five fridges were tucked away in a cubby corner and were shared between around 30 students. They were supposed to house a lot of food but more often than not, the fridges were pretty sparse. On this night, like many others, I, poor little old me, had no food within my fridge. I opened the door to the one where my stocks usually resided, and instead of finding a sad and empty shelf, two large pizza boxes had taken my spot. 

I stared, hypnotised. I poked my head around the corner like a naughty child who wasn't even aware that a plan was already set in motion. I blame hunger entirely because I wouldn't call myself a thief - not usually anyway. Alas, my belly could not withstand another grumble and before I knew what I was doing I had opened the box to see the glorious cold greasy slices sitting in their cosy little pizza box houses. I withdrew a slither from the box and munched on it where I stood. 

Footsteps. I panicked. I threw all that remained of the one pizza slice - just the crust - back into the box (I'm gross leave me alone). I had no idea who could be coming around the corner, though I did have some idea who the pizza belonged to. I knew if he were the one to catch me red handed I wouldn't be here to tell the tale...

Fortunately, it wasn't him. It was instead another hungry housemate coming for an evening snack. I clearly looked innocent enough to have a simple 'how's the essay going' chat. I wondered back to my room, the taste of pizza still around my chops and a minor sense of guilt. Though clearly, I hadn't learnt my lesson. It was getting late and the one slice hadn't touched the sides. I went back to the kitchen and poked around my cupboard. The shop was closed at this time, and all that I had was porridge. Maybe I could just replace the pizza? 

Maybe I should have never stolen some pizza. My housemate unsurprisingly discovered the missing slices when he went to grab a bite the next day, and boy did he go on a rampage. His pizza partner aka, the person I had stolen another slice from, was pretty calm about the matter and accepted an apology and the offer of some beverages when we next went out. However, my other housemate pointed the finger at absolutely anyone he could think of, and when I received a text from my friend in 'Spoons claiming she had been accused of stealing pizza, and reports began coming in that other people were receiving accusational texts, I was quick to admit what I'd done. I admitted it to his face and he was not remotely impressed. I offered to buy him a whole new pizza.

'Why the f- did you eat my pizza?!' 

'I had one slice of yours it was hunger, poverty, starvation - forgive me'

'Why did you leave the crust?!'

'Well shit, that wasn't intentional I panicked - forgive me, chill I'll buy you a new one'

Clearly I learned nothing from watching Sherlock Holmes on repeat. I felt pretty guilty and tried to offer him a new one, but it wasn't the loss of a pizza slice that annoyed him but the betrayal. Understandably. I can't remember how long it took for him to forgive me, and how long he actually ignored me for, but I know he came to terms with what I'd done and we've now lived together for the the past three years of university, so he's clearly accepted my flaws. 

It was a low point for me - I don't think it's okay to steal other peoples food at all. I learnt that you should never steal food if you want to have friends. At university it seems easy to take a nibble when food has been lingering in a fridge for longer than you think it should have been, or your housemate has gone away and left something behind. I've since been on the other end of food theft and understand how enraging it can be. Learn from my hunger and stress-induced thievery that stealing food is not cool - and never, I repeat NEVER, steal pizza from a student.

MissIsGoode

'I enjoyed second year about 1000x more than I enjoyed first year. I struggled a lot in my first year as I found the course really difficult and I felt very home sick, finding that I really missed my family and my (now ex) boyfriend, but I felt much more settled in second year due to the fact that I already had my friends at uni and also had changed to a different course, which helped me feel much happier. At first I was doing Maths and Psychology and was somewhat out of my depth with the Maths work but instead of asking for help and advice, I just thought I should work harder but found that I still wasn't getting anywhere. I've found that changing to a course more suitable for me has made such a difference to how much I've enjoyed it. 

The work load definitely increased this year but mainly my attitude to work changed; gone were the days of doing the bare minimum just to pass and instead came countless hours of finding the right book in the library to help make a point in an essay and I was thrilled to get some firsts. However, going from staying up all night doing Maths problems sheets and revising for class tests that I didn't understand, revising and writing essays for something I actually understood was a doddle! 

I found it much easier to settle into a house rather than halls; you have somewhere to sit and relax with a cup of tea rather than having to head up to your room due to there being no communal area. I also felt much more independent; you have to do your own bins/recycling etc and you even get a washing machine in the house. In first year I was in one of the infamous Hawthorns blocks of 36 people and although at first it was great to have such a big community and automatically have friends, it got old quickly. We had a bit of drama at the start of second year within our house and I only really spent the first semester there. When I got together with my boyfriend in January I more or less moved in to his house, tampons and all, which was great fun as I got on so well with his housemates and it was really nice to be living with him. I found it much easier than being chucked into halls with a bunch of strangers! 

Something that provided me with so much pride and enjoyment in second year was properly committing to the uni trampolining club, it was so nice to have that little community with a shared interest. In second year I was treasurer and head coach of Keele University Trampolining Club (KUTC) and we had one of our most successful years in terms of medals won, members joined and numbers competing at competitions and I'm so proud of all our members. I was then elected to be club captain! I also came second at a national trampolining competition separate to the university after battling with whether or not to call it a day which I'm proud of. And I passed my driving test first time, which was the highlight of my year!

My freshers week was a little different during second year as I had a bar staff job at the Student's Union, and it meant I only went to two of the freshers nights. It was nice knowing things like which toilets/bars are less busy and not to buy a freshers pass unless you're going to go out to every night (although it does mean skipping the queue!). It was a strange feeling knowing that the week was for the freshers but also for us to catch up with old friends and celebrate being back. I got the job on bars in April of first year so I worked for the whole of second year and having that income was just fantastic. So a combination of having the years experience of food shops and knowing how "value" you can go coupled with having more money each week means that I did much better with money in second year. Whenever I did manage to get out to the union I certainly made the most of it!

The first night out at the union after January exams has to be a low point in my life. I had recently got together with the boyf so a combination of being a bit nervous around new people and not having drank in a month due to exams all resulted in me drinking a bottle of vodka and then some. At 5"0 and weighing about 45kg I'm not exactly built to be a big drinker and alas about half an hour after arriving at the union I chundered into my cup in the middle of the scruffy squirrel and instead of maintaining some dignity, I decided to burst into tears, which resulted in me being taken home at the wild hour of midnight. I'm basically a drunk Cinderella. After arriving back at my boyfriend's I persisted to chunder again on his carpet, and was swiftly handed a saucepan (which I'm sure we have since used again) and all in all was in bed by 12.30. It was tough to show my face again but quickly became a "remember the time...".  

To everyone going into second year in September I would just say that input = output, if you want to end the year with a 2.1 or a 1st then put the effort in sooner rather than later. If you feel like something's lacking in your life then join a club or society asap and if you're struggling with work don't be embarrassed to ask for help. Overall though I wouldn't change a thing about my second year. It definitely exceeded my expectations in terms of enjoyment and getting more out of my time at uni!'

I hope you enjoyed reading about Georgia's experience of her previous two years at Keele! If you have any questions about Keele uni, feel free to ask me or I can put you in contact with Georgia. If you have any other questions email me - missisgoode@gmail.com - or leave a comment below! 

MissIsGoode